The present invention relates to a digital copier or similar image processing apparatus and more particularly to an image processing apparatus capable of storing mass image data.
Today, a digital copier of the type including a semiconductor memory, large-capacity hard disk or similar image storing means for storing document image data is available. This type of digital copier is capable of producing a plurality of copiers of a document by scanning the document only once or electronically sorting prints in order of page. Also, the copier is capable of storing image data output from a scanner or image data representative of text codes arranged in a bit map in a large-capacity hard disk, so that the image data can be output in the future.
Further, the image data stored in the hard disk can be transferred to a storing medium removably mounted to the copier for a backup or a long-time storage purpose. More specifically, the digital copier is provided with an external image storing device and an internal image storing device. The external image storing device writes or reads image data in or out of the removable storing medium. The internal image storing device stores image data read out of documents or image data transferred from the external image storing device. The removable storing medium may be implemented as a CD-R (CD Readable), CD-RW (CD-ReWritable), large capacity DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), data tape or similar mass storing medium.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 63-146555, for example, discloses an image processing apparatus constructed to store information and an operation procedure program necessary for copying in a removable storing medium together with image data. This apparatus is directed toward efficient manual operation.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1-256269 teaches an image processing apparatus capable of storing not only image data but also information representative of the date of storage of the image data in a removable storing medium. This apparatus allows the image data to be rapidly read out when they are again printed on paper sheets.
It is a common practice with a conventional image processing apparatus including the internal image storing device, removable storing medium or similar image storing means to store image data representative of one or more pages, e.g., a single document in the storing means as a single image file. A particular file name is attached to each image file for management. When the operator of the apparatus selects a desired file name out of a list of file names or inputs it, an image file designated by the file name is read out of the image storing means on a file basis. The image data of the image file read out are displayed or printed on a paper sheet, as desired. Information indicative of correspondence between the image file names or file numbers and the locations thereof in the image storing means is prepared as management information. When the operator designates a desired image file name, the apparatus accesses the location of the image storing means corresponding to the image file name and reads out an image file designated by the image file name.
The above described image processing apparatus, however, has the following problem left unsolved. The image data to be stored in the image storing means are managed on the basis of a single image file including one or more pages, as stated earlier. It is therefore impossible to read out only particular pages out of a plurality of pages, e.g., page 1 of an image file A and page 2 of an image file B. To print, e.g., only a particular page of a single image file, it has been customary to read the entire image file including the particular page out of the image storing means, causing the operator to select the particular page, and then output the page selected. Such a procedure is time-consuming. This problem is more serious when use is made of a removable storing medium whose reading rate is low or when an image file includes a number of pages.